Around The AHL: Abbotsford is official; Devils to Utica

Two NHL organizations, three AHL cities, and two moves later, the 2021-22 AHL map has come into focus.

The AHL made it official Thursday that the Vancouver Canucks will be moving their AHL affiliate from Utica, N.Y. to Abbotsford, B.C., effective next season.

But Utica, one of the league’s top markets, will still have the NHL’s top developmental league in town. The New Jersey Devils confirmed their plan to shift the Binghamton Devils into Utica next season as part of a new 10-year affiliation agreement. The team will be known as the Comets, and the move reunites New Jersey with Utica for the first time in 29 years. The Utica Devils, who produced the likes of Martin Brodeur and Bill Guerin among others, played six seasons before departing in the spring of 1993.